Meridian Management Co. Buys 426 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Meridian Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,883 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the quarter. Diamondback Energy comprises 0.9% of Meridian Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $179.13 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.96. The stock has a market cap of $52.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.70 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 3.64.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.